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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25840384">Misstep</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tirainy/pseuds/Tirainy'>Tirainy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Amputation, Angst, Depression, Established Relationship, Gruesome Imagery, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, I have such a love-hate relationship with this one, Insensitive Language, Loss of Limbs, M/M, Morally Questionable Choices, Suicide Attempt, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, Trauma, Unhealthy Relationships, at points</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:28:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>17,775</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25840384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tirainy/pseuds/Tirainy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What does it take to bring down a hero? A single wrong step, apparently. What does it take to build one back up? That Shadow does not know, yet.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>184</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Desolation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><strong>AN:</strong>  Takes this. Just frigging take this away from me. I honestly just wanted a small exercise to get my writing muscles back in shape, but before I even knew it, this behemoth was already 15+ pages and still growing. So, please, just take it. Take it <em>now</em>.<br/><br/><strong>PS.</strong> Please, read the tags before you dive in. This is rather heavy stuff, so I don't want anybody to be caught off guard.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sonic desperately gulps for air as he skids to stop just several dozen yards away from the nightmare of a robot that Dr. Eggman has built this time. The Egg Behemoth is so tall it towers even over the tallest of skyscrapers the city has to offer, so heavy and well-protected it can easily walk right through <em>all </em>the buildings in its path, knocking them over as easily as if they were made of nothing but tissue paper; worse, doing so does not inflict even the slightest bit of damage on the giant machine as there's spherical golden force field protecting the entirety of it, creating a barrier between it and absolutely <em>everything</em> else.</p><p>Faintly, Sonic can hear Dr. Eggman cackling madly from his way up high in the machine's control room, clearly enjoying having brought Sonic to his knees; there is no way for the hero to get inside the force field no matter what he tries, so all he can do is try to get people to safety—but there's too many of them and the Behemoth is moving <em>too</em> quickly—and try to somehow disable the force field, so at least the army will have a chance to take the metal beast down when he inevitably runs out of steam completely.</p><p>Green eyes snap towards the approaching robot that is still moving as effortlessly as when they had started this fight who knows how long ago. However, Sonic's own body is already shaking in exhaustion and his knees threaten to buckle under him any second now, his body simply not able to take the level of abuse this particular fight demands of him. He's running purely on adrenaline now, but hopefully that will be enough.</p><p>He begs the Universe for his plan to work. He does not know what he'd do if it did not.</p><p>The Behemoth takes another giant step towards him and Sonic waits with bated breath as the sole of one metal foot finally hits the ground near to where some high-voltage cables have fallen onto the ground. There's a sound akin to the cracking of a whip, and lighting seems to shoot out of the ground, crawling all over the golden force-field, tearing holes in it as it goes, until, at last, the force field flickers and collapses entirely. All the traffic lights in the area seems to give out too at the same moment, sparks of burned out electronics flying everywhere.</p><p>A grin of triumph pulls at the corners of Sonic's mouth. <em>Step potential. </em>Heck, yeah.</p><p>Dr. Eggman curses from above and Sonic even hears some banging going on, as the doctor mashes his fists into the console as he tends to do when things don't go his way. However, Eggman's anger and Sonic's triumph are both short-lived and give away to terror as it becomes obvious that the Behemoth is beginning to keel over, its ability to create force field clearly not the <em>only </em>thing affected.</p><p>Sonic's gaze jumps erratically around the demolished street, checking there's nobody beside them. The surrounding areas have been evacuated the moment it became obvious that the Behemoth would not be an easy fight. However, somebody could still have been left behind—</p><p>Sonic feels his blood turn to ice as he spots a terrified child lying among the rubble right where the Behemoth is about to fall.</p><p>He's in motion before he even thinks about it, pushing his exhausted body to carry him towards the child. His legs feel like jelly but he still fuels the little bit of power that remains into them, needing to save the kid. He's slow—his legs just cannot run any faster at the moment—but he should make it just in time.</p><p><em>Almost there—!</em> He jumps over a flipped car, and curses when he slips on loose rubble. However, he regains his footing quickly and tries to cross the remaining distance. He's only a few yards away, but the Behemoth has almost hit the ground already. With horror, he realizes he might not make it. In desperate attempt, he fuels the last bit of his power into his feet and <em>jumps</em> head-first right below the falling machine.</p><p>His momentum carries him through the gradually narrowing space; his stomach is grazing the ground below him and his head is already grazing the metal hull of the behemoth <em>above</em> him, but Sonic ignores his own blood pounding in his ears and just locks onto getting the kid from the harm's way. The moment his palms connect, he pushes with all his might, forcefully pushing the kid right from the behemoth's shadow with a cry. However, having as much experience maneuvering at all kind of speeds he knows his own momentum will not be enough to get<em> him</em> from under in time.</p><p>To his surprise, a blink of an eye later he feels the warmth of a sun hit his face; but it's already too late; an incredible weight is already bearing down on his right leg, an indescribable agony shooting up his spine as in a single heartbeat its sinews snap, muscles burst and bones are ground into nothing but a fine powder.</p><p>The child's terrified face and his own agonized screams are the last things Sonic is aware of before he mercifully blacks out.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Sonic's return to consciousness is slow and sluggish. His body feels like it's both made of lead and about to flow away at the same time and there's the pleasant haze of morphine hanging over his mind. Man, Egghead must have done quite a number on him if they given him that strong stuff...</p><p>He's very tempted to just let himself succumb to the enjoyable hold of the drugs and return back to sleep. However, at the back of his mind he feels something insistent, a part of him nagging him to wake up because something is <em>wrong.</em> What it is, Sonic does not know yet.</p><p>"Sonic?" Tails' voice echoes, weight settling on Sonic's hand and Sonic groans as he at last forces his eyes to open.</p><p>"T-Tails?" he mumbles, slowly turning his head to where he thinks the voice has come from. Green eyes blink as they try to readjust themselves to the brightness of the room and focus on the vaguely Mobian shape before him.</p><p>"Sonic!" Tails squeezes Sonic's hand with such force that Sonic actually winces. Man, he didn't even know Tails possesses this much strength. "How are you feeling? Anything hurts?"</p><p>"I'm..." It takes Sonic a moment to think about the answer. His right leg burns and itches a little but otherwise the morphine seems to be pretty much blocking the rest of it, "...fine."</p><p>"Fine?!" A gruff voice huffs and Sonic knows it belongs to Knuckles before he's even turned his head that way. The guardian is flanked on his left side by Amy. "Chaos, what were you thinking, Sonic?! That thing could have crushed you!"</p><p>"Knuckles!" Amy chastises him, giving him a glare. Knuckles seems to deflate a little at her tone. "Not <em>now</em>."</p><p>"...There was a kid," Sonic defends himself weakly when his brain finally supplies what the echidna is mad at him about. "I had to save her." His mind is patchy whether he's actually managed that. "Is she—?"</p><p>"She's fine! Save for a few scratches here and there," Amy assures him as she comes to sit beside his bed, offering him a big smile. However, it's too stiff as if Amy is forcing it. "You saved her, Sonic! You're a hero!"</p><p>Amy takes his hand into hers, squeezing so tightly it's bordering on uncomfortable. Sonic's gaze falls in confusion to their clasped hands and then turns back to her face. Why is she doing that? And why is she looking at him like that? "...What happened then?"</p><p>The room suddenly seems deathly quiet. Amy's eyes refuses to meet his.</p><p>Sonic does not like it.</p><p>"...We almost lost you."</p><p>A sharp pain runs up Sonic's spine, a reminder of what exactly has happened. His leg got trapped under the behemoth— "<em>No.</em>"</p><p>His leg <em>burns.</em></p><p>Realizing, what Amy is likely trying to say, Sonic immediately tries to pull both his hands free from both Amy and Tails but they hold on tight. Sonic begins to hyperventilate.</p><p>
  <em>No, please, Chaos, no—</em>
</p><p>"I'm sorry," Amy chokes and at least they let him pull his hands free, so he can throw away the sheet that is covering his legs.</p><p>A choked gasp leaves him, tears stinging his eyes as he places his hands atop his right thigh where bandages and gauzes are wrapped right where his knee is supposed to begin but does <em>not</em>.</p><p>He tries to breath but manages nothing but a choking, wheezing sound. He feels two pairs of arms wrap around him and another hand on one of his shoulders. However, they do not bring any comfort for they cannot do anything to change the devastating truth.</p><p>His leg is gone.</p><p>oOo</p><p>The following days seem to both drag on and go by in a blink of an eye.</p><p>Over the course of them, every single person of his friend group visits him in the hospital at least once, bringing condolences about his loss and wishes of quick recovery. Sonic does his best to be his usual upbeat self, joke around and just not try to dwell on the fact his leg is gone; him being distraught about it won't make the limb magically grow back but just drag him back into the slump of the first day.</p><p>However, even his resolve is not enough to keep his smile from getting shaky at times. His friends generally try to steer the conversation elsewhere when it happens, though.</p><p>At his fourth day in hospital, the little girl that he has saved visits him, along with her parents. The little girl cries her eyes out, apologizing profusely that he got hurt because of her. He tells her it was ultimately his choice to try to save her, and, therefore, she didn't need to feel responsible for anything that happened. The girl's mother leads the child out of the room, eventually. Right after, the father hands him a business card, telling Sonic he will pay every single expense of Sonic's therapy, including any operations or eventual prosthetics. Sonic thanks him but declines the offer, and tells him to rather spoil his daughter with the money.</p><p>Only when the father also leaves, Sonic lets his mask of confidence shatter and his anguish to manifest itself. He clutches what remains of his leg, phantom pain mixing together with his emotional one, and he tries to breath though it instead of falling apart as he wants.</p><p>He's certain the girl's father meant well, but their conversation to Sonic was nothing but a reminder that this particular hospital stay is not just a temporary inconvenience like when he's broken a couple of bones in the past and was bed-ridden for several weeks—no, this is permanent and nothing will be as it used to be when he finally leaves the hospital. For without a leg—he cannot<em> run</em>.</p><p>Sure, there are advanced prosthetics out there and whatever Tails is certainly already coming up will probably blow even those out of water, but even a genius like Tails cannot make miracles. Sonic is simply one of a<em> kind</em>, his bones and muscles able to extort and withstand forces that would have shattered and snapped those of ordinary Mobians many times over. Creating anything mechanical like that will be difficult if not downright impossible; Dr. Eggman has tried creating something that could match him and the closest thing that he has ever come up with was Metal Sonic but even his speed comes from a rocket booster rather than a locomotion of limbs as in Sonic's case. And if that is the best Dr. Eggman has ever come up with...</p><p>Sonic believes in Tails but if years of hatred and desire to see him die have not produced something that can give him a run for his money yet then he doesn't have a lot of belief in that it can be even done...</p><p>Which means his speed is gone. Forever. And that means his days of being a hero too.</p><p>Just like that.</p><p>oOo</p><p>It's on day five when his partner, Shadow, finally appears. The agent looks ready to raise hell and rather disheveled as if he has not seen a comb or a shower in over a week; considering he has gone off at a mission at that exact time, it's not out of the realm of possibility he's coming right from it.</p><p>"I came the moment I was told," Shadow explains as he sits down beside his bed. Right in the bullseye, then. Sonic smiles wrily at the thought. Being right does not feel as triumphant as it usually does. "How are you?" Shadow asks, schooling his expression to something more neutral than the pissed one he's arrived with. The agent's hand curls around one of Sonic's own, giving it a small squeeze. "Do you need anything?"</p><p><em>My leg back,</em> Sonic thinks but does not voice it. It probably shows in his expression still as Shadow's hand clutches a little tighter. Then again, his silence and a lack of clever quips likely say enough on their own; he<em> wants </em>to say something witty, something light-hearted, dismiss it like with everybody else. But when he looks at Shadow, all he manages is a half-choked sob that is soon followed by more and more, the single slip-up clearly having been enough to break the dam keeping them in.</p><p>But Shadow is upon him in an instant, striped arms encircling him, drawing him in, and Sonic clutches onto the other with all his might, just letting himself crumble and fall apart completely in Shadow's arms.</p><p>The agent softly presses his lips into the fur of his head, murmuring meaningless words of comfort into his ear but not promising anything he cannot guarantee. Unlike others.</p><p>Sonic appreciates the honesty.</p><p>oOo</p><p>"Could you have saved it?" Sonic asks much later when he's gotten his emotions back in check. Or, well, cried out the majority of them out onto Shadow's fur. Said agent is currently cleaning it out and freshening himself up by the small sink that adorns the far corner of the room.</p><p>"No." Shadow just shakes his head as he walks back to him, as fresh as one can manage with a single small sink and nothing else. "I cannot heal an injury like that." Shadow kneels before him, his hands enveloping themselves in the familiar golden haze of chaos energy. "It was essentially crushed to a pulp—" Sonic flinches a little at the description—after all, it's<em> his</em> frigging leg they are talking about—and Shadow gives a little 'Sorry,' for his word choice, but Sonic cannot really blame him because, well, Shadow is <em>right</em>, that's exactly what happened to it. "—and healing with chaos is about encouraging and speeding up of the natural body processes. If the body cannot heal it, I can't either."</p><p>Shadow's hands hover above the bandaged part of Sonic's leg, and Sonic feels as Shadow maneuvers the chaos energy <em>inside</em> to mend what he could to speed up the recovery along. Sonic knows he should probably let it heal organically, so he could get, well, <em>used to</em> the new state things if nothing else, but he hates being at a hospital doing nothing because it just gives him time to think about <em>things</em> and that nowadays generally just leads to him feeling shitty. Plus the itching of the healing wound is driving him up the wall, and the phantom pains of a leg that's no longer frigging<em> there i</em>s already enough on its own, thank you very much.</p><p>Plus the sooner it heals, the sooner he can work on getting a prosthetic. So, yeah, he'd rather for Shadow to heal it than the alternative.</p><p>Sonic glances at Shadow as he works, feeling the itching subdue gradually until only the light prickle of healing chaos energy is left, but that also recedes when Shadow's hands stop glowing. Sonic does not even need to look under the bandages to know he'd find a smooth scar running along the stump of his leg if he were to.</p><p>"Thank you," Sonic says, the emotion fully sincere for probably the first time in the many days.</p><p>"It's alright," Shadow replies automatically as he covers Sonic's legs with the sheet again—it is easier for him to not think about it when he can't see it and Shadow has picked up on it—for which Sonic gives the other a small smile.</p><p>It widens a little more when just a moment later Shadow leans in and places a kiss atop his forehead. It's nothing but a light touch of lips, but Sonic still revels in it; Shadow has never been about casual shows of affection like him, so it feels the more special when Shadow decides to offer some on his own accord. Of course, it is possible that Shadow is simply picking up on his mood and is trying to steer his thoughts in other directions, but even if it is so, Sonic still appreciates every gesture.</p><p>"Do you want me to take a look at the rest?" Shadow asks once he straightens his back again, his gaze flickering to the various smaller scratches and bruises Sonic got during the fight with the Behemoth. However, Sonic shakes his head; none of those really bother him enough to be worth being looked over by Shadow at this moment. After all, Shadow just returned from a mission, so he must be pretty exhausted even if he doesn't let it show. "Alright," Shadow accepts his decision without an argument or even a doubtful brow rise. When Sonic looks close enough, there's indeed a tired slump to Shadow's shoulders, so it's obvious Shadow would not really have the energy to fight him on that decision even if he wanted to. The agent does his best to straighten his back when he sees him staring, though. Cannot really give up the tough guy act, heh?</p><p>"Do you want me to stay here or would you prefer to be alone?" Shadow inquires, clearly meaning it as a genuine offer, even though Sonic can practically see the desire to go shower and just sleep for like two days straight in the other's eyes. Probably to eat some food too; Shadow tends to dismiss all three when on missions, unfortunately.</p><p>Sonic really doesn't want to be alone at the moment but he understands Shadow still has his own needs despite his...<em>injury</em>. After all, the world will not stop spinning just because of him. "Stay with me until I fall asleep," Sonic requests, trying for a compromise. "The nurse should bring me some sleeping pills soon. I'm always out like a light like ten minutes later."</p><p>Shadow frowns at the casual remark. "Have you had problems with sleeping?"</p><p>"The pain gets bad sometimes." Sonic gestures vaguely to his leg. It is not the full truth—half the time it's the pain, half it's his overactive mind keeping him awake. But Shadow doesn't really need to worry about that. "They help me sleep through the night."</p><p>As on cue, there is a knock on the door and a nurse steps in with two cups in her hands. One with the pills, one with water. She greets Shadow and then hands over both cups to Sonic. The hero offers them both a tiny smile and with small "Cheers!" pops first the pills into his mouth and then downs them with the water. After, the nurses takes both cups away and leaves the room.</p><p>They chat about meaningless things for a few more minutes until Sonic starts feeling his eye-lids get heavy, at which point the conversation starts to peter out and Sonic eventually drifts off into a dreamless sleep.</p><p>The last thing Sonic notes before unconsciousness swallows him is that the faint trace of a frown has still not left Shadow's face.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Sonic gets himself discharged right the following day. As expected, the doctors oppose at first, but when one of them checks up his leg and finds it healed and, well, they cannot really say there's a need for Sonic to stay any longer. Some would probably find it baffling and ask for the 'how'—after all, it's only been like a <em>week</em>—but this certain doctor has learned long ago not to question things when it comes to Sonic or any of his friends that might end up in his care; the answers rarely make sense or aren't really applicable to other cases. Thus the doctor just signs the discharge papers, gives Sonic some medication and thorough instructions of how to proceed with home care, as well as a list of contacts Sonic might need on his road to recovery. The hedgehog duo thanks him and after pocketing everything, Shadow chaos controls them away.</p><p>The sight of the living room of their shared home greets him and Sonic immediately feels some of the accumulated tension in his shoulders dissolve. He uses the crutches he's been given to to make his way over to the couch, on which he promptly lets himself collapse, being careful not to jostle his residual limb too much. Shadow takes the crutches from him and leaves them leaning against an armchair before going over all they've been given to check nothing is missing.</p><p>Sonic himself just tries to get himself more comfortable on the couch and rearranges weird sock thingy—shrinker, he believes it's called—that the doctor has insisted he should wear until his next check-up. It's supposed to provide compression to keep swelling down if Sonic recalls correctly. He personally appreciates it more for the fact he doesn't have to see what is hidden underneath. The simple cloth barrier makes it all seems just a little bit more...<em>distant</em>.</p><p>He still diverts his gaze away from it towards Shadow, though. Shadow currently seems to be going over the various contacts they've been given. "Is there any number for a prosthetic service or something like that?" Sonic asks, eager to try anything to get at least<em> something</em> back. The days of running at the speed of sounds are certainly over for him but if prosthetics allow him to at least<em> jog </em>or run however slow, well, that is better than nothing for the former speed demon.</p><p>"It's too early for something like that." Shadow shoots him a disapproving stare. "You have to give yourself and your body some time to...<em>settle</em>." Shadow doesn't really seem sure of his word-choice but Sonic understands what he wants to stay. Not that he agrees with it.</p><p>"But you've already healed everything. Why would I need to wait?"</p><p>"I healed you leg because I didn't want you to be in unnecessary pain." Shadow sits down on the armchair, across him, slumping against the cushions just so. "But the rest of your body has not adjusted yet. I've seen how off balance you are at those crutches. I think you should get used to <em>everything</em> before we look for prosthetics."</p><p>"I don't want to get used to anything."</p><p>"Sonic—"</p><p>"Shadow—" Sonic's aware his tone is close to pleading now, but the hero cannot bring himself to care too much. "I just...I just want to walk on<em> two feet </em>again. <em>Please.</em>" He reaches over the gap between them to grasp onto Shadow's hand. It curls around his the moment they come into contact. The crimson eyes soften marginally. "I promise I'll take things slow. I will not push myself."</p><p>"You always push yourself."</p><p>"This time I won't," Sonic promises before offering the other a small smile. "And if I do, you can always steal the prosthesis and hide it somewhere. I'm hardly going to chase you down on those crutches."</p><p>The crimson eyes stare at him for a long while, thoughtful. But eventually, they relent and Shadow gives a soft sigh, his hand tightening around Sonic's own. "I'm holding you to your word."</p><p>Sonic's mouth pulls into a wide smile. "Deal."</p><p>oOo</p><p>"As an above a knee amputee, your choices are either socket prosthesis or an implant," the walrus engineer, Rotor, explains, "as a furred Mobian, you however might encounter a multitude of problems with using a socket prosthesis." Rotor takes what Sonic believes to be an example of the type of prosthesis from the workbench beside him and uses it to point to what he's talking about as he speaks.</p><p>"Normally, these things use a vacuum pump to create suction around the leg to ensure the prosthesis won't slip off when moving around with it. It works great on naked skin or scales. However, it doesn't really work well with fur or feathers. Because shaving the fur off is out of the question because of the high risk of infection that would lead to, we offer furred Mobians with this type of prosthesis additional harness. They improve stability greatly but many find them bothersome and too uncomfortable when used for a longer period of time."</p><p>Rotor offers the prosthesis over to them, so they can take a closer look. Sonic takes it gingerly, looking the mechanical foot over. It looks sturdy and well made but Sonic doesn't really find using it, well, <em>appealing</em> for a lack of better word.</p><p>"Thus many choose the implant instead." Rotor takes a long slender piece of metal that is lying on one of the tables. "The procedure is simple, a hole is bored into the femur bone into which a titanium rod is then mounted—" He points out the specific bone on the poster of Mobian skeleton that hangs behind him and then to the item in his hand. "—with a part of the rod remaining accessible outside. The prosthesis is then mounted onto this outside part. It's more expensive but because the system is internal, the stability is greatly improved and you don't have to worry about the prosthesis slipping off. Because the metal is directly in contact with the bone, it also allows the user to feel the terrain when they walk."</p><p>"I want that," Sonic blurts out before he can stop himself. Because a prosthesis that will allow him not only to walk but also <em>sense</em>? Yes, yes, yes. A thousand times <em>YES.</em></p><p>"Don't jump into it like that." Shadow frowns at his side. "You should take the time to think about it."</p><p>"Why? Shad, that one will let me <em>feel</em>—"</p><p>"But it's an <em>operation</em>. Those do not always work out like you want them to. You might end up worse off in the end."</p><p>"Or <em>better.</em>" This time it's Sonic's turn to frown. "Why do you keep trying to talk me out of this, Shadow? I know what I'm doing—"</p><p>"Most people spend <em>months</em> coming to terms with their condition. You're on day eight and already planning to have a hole drilled into yourself. I don't think you really had the time to really process what happened to you."</p><p>"I've processed it just <em>fine</em>, Shadow." Sonic grits his teeth. From the corner of his eye, he sees Rotor rise and promptly leave the room, likely feeling the inevitable fight. With the two of them alone, Sonic doesn't let himself hold back. "What do you think I was doing while <em>you</em> were <em>gone</em> on that mission of yours? Twiddle my thumbs? No, I was coming to terms with the fact that my frigging leg is gone <em>forever</em>. I will never be able to run as fast as I used to. If even run at all. I'm perfectly aware of that. What more is there to process? What more do you want me to do? Cry more? Scream? Throw things? What exactly will convince you I'm <em>ready</em> or whatever you want me to be?"</p><p>"I came the moment I was aware what happened," Shadow grits out at the veiled accusation but doesn't really answer the posed question. Of course, he doesn't.</p><p>"But you weren't there when I <em>needed</em> you the most," Sonic throws back, feeling the beginning of tears sting in his eyes. His friends have been there for him in his initial days of grief but he has never found himself able to just completely <em>break down</em> while there with him. Sure, he cried, cursed Eggman and raged on the unfairness of the Universe—why him? Why him of all people?—but he didn't crumble entirely until he was sure they were all gone. He knows he would never have the same problem with Shadow, he would have ugly-cried and shouted and just let himself succumb to the torrent of emotions if he had Shadow as his anchor to hold onto during it. Like he wants to do now. He chokes back a sob that threatens to leave him. "...You just weren't there."</p><p>Shadow presses his lips into a thin line, his look softening just so. "Sonic." Shadow reaches for him and Sonic lets himself be drawn in, because, damn, he<em> needs </em>it. His bitterness can go hang. His hands clutch onto the dark body as striped arms wrap around him, gloved hands gently rubbing his back. "I'm sorry."</p><p>Sonic buries his face into the other's shoulder, both to hide his crying face and muffle any sobbing he might do. "Don't be," he mumbles into the soft dark fur. "It's not your fault." After all, it wasn't Shadow's fault he didn't know. He was so far into an enemy territory that all communication with outside had been dangerous lest somebody might catch it and find out he was there. "...I'll take a week to think it all through."</p><p>Shadow gives a sigh. "Thank you."</p><p>oOo</p><p>"This is crazy, Tails."</p><p>"I just modified the tech that is out there," Tails argues as he continues to show off the movement of the prototype prosthesis he himself have built. It's obviously still in the early prototyping stages, because, well, the inventor hasn't expected him to be out of the hospital so soon. However, the concept is simple; Tails has measured his own brain activity and leg position while performing different movements and uploaded the data into a microchip in the prosthesis; it now responds to every thought of the inventor. "The mobility is limited so far but if you want, you can try it out; we just need to map your brain activity and replace my data with it first."</p><p>"Let's."</p><p>"Don't move then." Tails removes the sensors from his head and arranges them on Sonic's instead, and with Shadow's help helps him get the prosthesis on—it's the socket type. Then Tails moves to his laptop and pulls up what appears to be a virtual model of the prosthesis. "Alright, I'll show you the positions one by one. In each, I want you to pretend you're moving an actual leg into them, okay?"</p><p>"Okay." Sonic locks his gaze onto the laptop's screen, waiting for Tails to give him a signal to start. When the young inventor does, Sonic does his best to <em>focus</em> and <em>move</em>. However, error warnings began to appear on the laptop's screen almost immediately.</p><p>"The sensors cannot pick up your brain activity and the CPU seems to have frozen. Weird," Tails explains after he reads through them. Tails tries rebooting the system but the issue persists. Tails frowns. "Maybe there's some kind of interference. Let me try something."</p><p>Tails runs off only to come back with something that to Sonic looks like some type of thermal camera. The inventor points it at him and then blinks owlishly at whatever he finds. "Alright, your chaos field looks really weird." Tails glances towards Shadow. "Shadow, why is there so much chaos energy concentrated in Sonic's right leg?" he asks, knowing that anything regarding chaos energy is Shadow's expertise.</p><p>"It happens with such big injuries. His body knows there's something wrong with the area, so it's relocating resources there to fix it," Shadow explains. "With me, it's generally passed once the area healed; I don't know how it'll behave with him. Will it be a problem?"</p><p>Tails frowns. "Well, all the chaos energy is interfering with the electronics. Is there a way to keep chaos energy out of that area?"</p><p>"If he wills it, but the moment he stops focusing, his body will redistribute the energy as it sees fit," Shadow explains, to which Tails responds with an unhappy frown. Shadow matches the look. "Could you perhaps recalibrate the sensors to work despite the interference?"</p><p>Tails bites his lip as he looks down on his measuring device, clearly considering the possibilities. "...I fear not." He sighs. "I guess it's back to the drawing board."</p><p>oOo</p><p>In the end, Tails does not manage to make his system work. Thus Sonic returns to Rotor and agrees to the operation. Shadow is not pleased but he's still with him the whole way. He manages to get the titanium rod implanted before the end of a month; he supposes the years of being hero paid off at least in that regard—no waiting lists.</p><p>The operation is successful and without complications. A week later the area where the rod sticks out of his body becomes inflamed but it's nothing he cannot deal with—well, at least until he goes on a check-up another week later and they tell him they'll need to remove the implant because it seems to have <em>broken</em> in several places. Nobody really understands<em> how</em> but they write it off as it being a simply faulty piece. He goes for another operation where they remove the old implant and put in a new one. Sonic tells Shadow he'll rather let this one heal on its own, in case the failure of the first one was somehow a result of interference of the chaos healing.</p><p>When they X-ray him two weeks later and find the new implant looking like a metal sponge inside his femur bone, Sonic figures the real problem might be <em>him</em>. Shadow explains that might be because of his high levels of chaos energy that his body simply sees the area as injured and the implant as foreign object that's keeping it from healing—therefore, his body believes it needs to be removed and does so in any way it can—disintegrating it gradually. Or that's at least what Shadow can observe from feeling out the chaos energy in the area.</p><p>It takes a lot of tears and shouting but eventually Sonic makes peace with not being able to feel the ground with that leg again and drinks his chlorophyll to cure the metal poisoning his body devouring the implant gave him.</p><p>Shadow does not look happy to be proved right.</p><p>oOo</p><p>They put Sonic in a wheelchair after removing his second implant. He's forbidden from even attempting using a socket prosthesis until his doctor decides otherwise. There being no implant in his leg means there's now a giant cavity in his femur that might pose a problem. They put in some filling that's supposed to be organic, which the doctors hope his body will not devour. Well, they'll all see in a week whether they are right.</p><p>As the day nears, Sonic's mood plummets but his phantom pains seem to rise in equal proportion. Sonic just wants to curl into himself as it feels like somebody is <em>peeling</em> his frigging <em>skin</em> off, but being stubborn he decides to power through it and instead tries the various methods he's read on. He finally gives up at the fourth method—mirror therapy—when instead of calming him down or leaving him unaffected as with the rest of them, staring at the reflection of his left leg on the mirror between his legs that is supposed to trick his brain into thinking he's still got both of them just awakens the resentment and hurt of losing his leg again.</p><p>He doesn't even realize he's thrown the damned mirror into a wall until Shadow has already run into the room with an alarmed expression to see what the noise was. It takes the agent only a moment to realize what has happened and before Sonic can blink Shadow's already kneeling beside him and holding him.</p><p>Sonic cries but he's not sure if it's because of the pain in his leg or his chest.</p><p>oOo</p><p>The agent doesn't really leave his side until the check-up and after the doctor confirms that Sonic's body seems to have accepted the filling, Shadow somehow even manages to get a prescription for some heavy pain-killers from the doctor for him.</p><p>Sonic's leg just seems to ache more after taking them.</p><p>He flushes them down the toilet but does not tell Shadow, not wanting to burden him with something he clearly cannot change.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Sonic has not really meant to do it; he was just preparing himself a snack. A simple sandwich. Just some ham, cheese, lettuce and a few slices of tomatoes. It was all just a momentary lapse of concentration while he was cutting the tomatoes.</p><p>He swears.</p><p>"Well, forgive me if I find that a little hard to believe," Shadow says and his voice trembles just slightly as the agent lays a hand over the wound on Sonic's wrists. The white glove is immediately stained red. Sonic cringes involuntarily at the sight. "...I think it's about time you finally saw a psychologist."</p><p>Sonic wants to fight—<em>I don't need to see anybody!</em>—but the moment his gaze slips to the bloodied knife still laying on the floor, he's not so sure anymore if it all really were an accident.</p><p>It terrifies him.</p><p>oOo</p><p>The following day, there's a heavy book laying in Shadow's lap that Sonic is fairly sure he hasn't seen before. Judging by the pictures, it's about anatomy as there's a figure with all their muscles exposed and labeled.</p><p>Sonic's brows furrow in confusion. "Why are you reading that?"</p><p>"For reference," Shadow answers simply. What exactly it's supposed to mean, Sonic isn't sure but assumes the agent means for any healing he might have to do down the line; just because the filling has taken and he's currently without problems—sans the phantom pain— does not mean Shadow's skills won't be required at some point down the line.</p><p>Finding this explanation reasonable, Sonic rolls over onto his other side and just returns to napping while they wait for it to be the time for his appointment with the psychologist. Asleep, he notices neither Shadow spending disproportionate amount of time on the parts about the below knee structures nor the occasional golden sparkle escaping the agent's fingertips.</p><p>oOo</p><p>The psychologist's advice essentially boils down to keeping on living and doing as he did before the accident. To be frank, Sonic does not find the advice helpful. He's spent all his life chasing around bad guys or running all around the word. How exactly he's supposed to that now <em>without a leg</em>?</p><p>However, Shadow takes the psychologist's advice and applies it to other areas. The agent encourages different actives from him like spending time with his friends.</p><p>Thus, Shadow organizes a movie night. But when they all settle to collectively watch the movie, Sonic just find it impossible to watch it. He feels the eyes on his back, the hundreds unasked questions and the tense atmosphere in the room suffocates every conversation before it can properly start. He excuses himself about halfway in the movie, saying he's got a headache.</p><p>Shadow watches him go but does not stop him.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Of course, that doesn't mean Shadow has let him off the hook entirely. Two days after Shadow <em>randomly </em>leaves a book of fairytales on the table. Sonic isn't even sure where the agent has dug out the book from, but he's hundred percent certain why Shadow has done so; reading is one of Sonic's less known hobbies and he really enjoys a good fantasy or sci-fi book. However, the idea of reading this particular just reminds him how his last two times of picking up a book ended up—a trip to the world of Arabian Nights and then that of Arthurian Legends; two of his more outlandish adventures that some of his friends still doubted really happened. But they did and they were<em> crazy</em> and so much <em>fun</em> and...</p><p>...He's probably not living through anything like that ever again.</p><p>He pushes the book to the other side of the table as far as he can—out of sight, out of mind and all that—and opts to sleep the day away instead.</p><p>When he wakes up later, the book is already gone.</p><p>oOo</p><p>The next day, Shadow chooses to clean out one of the closets and only by chance—yeah, the agent <em>totally</em> isn't cleaning out that particular closet on purpose—finds Sonic's guitar. Music has been one of Sonic's soft spots when he was younger—Chaos, he was even in a band, after all—and Sonic honestly hasn't touched a single musical instrument in months now; his fingers actually itch to play something when his gaze falls on his old guitar and when Shadow places the instrument in his hands they find their place as easily as if he's done this just yesterday.</p><p>However, it takes barely twenty notes for one of the guitar strings to snap and, honestly, if that is not a metaphor for Sonic's life currently, he really doesn't know what is.</p><p>oOo</p><p>They go flying in the Tornado the day after. Initially, Sonic has assumed Tails would be flying the thing but Shadow apparently wants <em>him</em> to pilot. Sonic, of course, knows how to do so—that plane used to be <em>his</em>, after all—but still finds the request odd. But for whatever reason, Shadow apparently believes it might help him somehow and so he agrees to it.</p><p>It's only two of them in the plane—Tails has some work to do back at his workshop—with Sonic in the pilot's seat and Shadow back in the passenger's. They fly for over an hour, just marveling the scenery, before Shadow, without a warning, leans forward and whispers into Sonic's ear to race him to the other end of the forest. Sonic doesn't even have a chance to react before the agent is already jumping off the plane and into the thick vegetation below. The plane cannot really match Shadow's superssonic speeds but all the trees in Shadow's path ensure Shadow cannot really utilize his full potential here, making the race just a little more fair to Sonic.</p><p>At first, Sonic does not really feel like racing, but something deep inside him stirs awake at seeing the golden-black streak make it's way through the forest—and further and <em>further</em> away from him—and before Sonic even knows, he's already pushing the plane to go faster. As he picks up speed, the wind becomes a roar in his ears and even if he does not understand the how, a feeling of lightness is filling his chest now.</p><p>Shadow obviously beats him to the edge of the forest. Sonic lands the plane on the clearing not far away where Shadow's waiting under a shade of a tree. When the plane finally comes to stop, Sonic's heart is still beating significantly quicker than is his resting rate and there's the nice feeling of a high after finishing a race spreading through his veins. It's not the same incredible high as he'd have anytime he managed to beat Shadow on foot but it's still a nice feeling.</p><p>He leans out of his seat and kisses Shadow the moment the agent comes close enough and laughs into their shared breath when they split. Shadow is wearing a soft expression on his face now and Sonic matches it with his own. He thanks the other for the race with a smile.</p><p>Then Shadow helps him out of the plane, so they can sit down together in the soft grass. They just lounge there, enjoying the warmth of the sun and each other's presence.</p><p>When Sonic eventually comes down from his high, he does his best to keep his mind of any intrusive thoughts, just wanting to enjoy the moment while it lasts, but one traitorous thought still makes it to the forefront.</p><p>
  <em>It's just not the same.</em>
</p><p>oOo</p><p>Still, Sonic's good mood holds for the most part and when they return home late into the night, there is still the faint restless buzz under his skin that he's not experienced in a long time. He feels <em>alive</em> for the first time in weeks and shows it by coaxing Shadow into bed and kissing the other with actual <em>fervor</em>. Shadow is reasonably surprised but he gets with the program quickly. How long exactly has it been since they did this? One? Two months? Sonic does not even remember. But it's right about time he fixes it.</p><p>Figuring he can always do the math later, Sonic thus focus on the now—the tan lips melding against his own, the strong hands running over his sides, the piercing red eyes staring at him from the darkness when they break apart. Shadow pushes him into a mattress and the heat of the striped body pressing into him from above is familiar and welcome.</p><p>Shadow's hands run all over his body with practiced ease, having familiarized themselves with every hard line and smooth curve long ago, sliding over them in their practiced dance. But they know the dance to <em>well</em>, and it's entirely unthinking move on Shadow's part—Sonic's certain—as they slide over his hips and up his thighs, clearly intending to hook behind the knees to pull him better against the other's body. But, of course, all Shadow's left hand meets is a scar tissue and, suddenly, the weight of Shadow's body seems more like the weight of the entire world bearing down on him—or an equally monstrous <em>metal giant</em>—and Sonic is <em>suffocating</em>, there's dust in his eyes and his leg is being <em>crushed</em>—</p><p>The sound of his own wheezing breaths and the warmth embrace of strong arms, is what Sonic finds when he snaps back into reality. He's sitting up, leaning against Shadow's chest and the agent is making soothing sounds in his ears. There's tears on Sonic's cheeks again but Sonic cannot even find the strength to raise his arm to wipe them away. A bone-weary tiredness is settling in his bones and a dark cloud is enveloping his mind, whispering how pathetic he must look to Shadow now, crying once again.</p><p>Sonic himself is tired of crying, but he just lets the tears flow, accepting this is his life now; a sniffling mess of once a hero that begins crying at the smallest of discomforts left as the results of his own choices.</p><p>He feels like a failure and he wouldn't blame Shadow if he saw him as one too.</p><p>oOo</p><p>An abyss seems to open between Sonic and the world after that.</p><p>Sonic feels like he's standing on one side of it and the rest of the world stands on the other side. The other side can shout with all their might but all Sonic hears is only the faintest of echoes. If at all. And anytime he tries to bridge the distance, the abyss just seems to open wider.</p><p>So, he just settles on his side and stares across. But, of course, Shadow notices and he has not accepted he's a lost cause yet—he gets Sonic many appointments with psychologists, tries to surround him with his friends, challenges him to a race again—Sonic declines—and Sonic is sure there's some medication at some point too, but despite it all, the abyss remains gaping open.</p><p>Eventually, Shadow has to return to work; for evil in the world never rests and it's been growing strong while Shadow wasted his energy on something as useless as him. And Sonic knows with his <em>full being</em> they are wasted when he turns on the TV and sees a live feed of his friends taking care of Dr. Eggman's newest creation with relative ease.</p><p>For he's not needed anymore—he's only a burden now. Not contributing, but instead sapping resources and energy from those around him; Shadow could go and enjoy his life if it weren't for him. Like this, Shadow's stuck with taking care of him.</p><p>He thinks back to a month ago, contemplates taking the knife and actually cutting with intent this time. But he's tired of pain and if he's to go, he wants at least <em>that</em> to be in peace.</p><p>He gets his sleeping pills out of a medicine cabinet. He settles on the bed and takes all the pills that remain into his hand. He stares at the little white pills for a while but they eventually make their way into his mouth and down his throat.</p><p>He jumps headfirst into the abyss. It swallows him whole.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Sonic's throat is burning as if he's swallowed pure fire. There's a cloud hanging over his mind and he doesn't understand <em>why</em> or<em> how</em>, but his throat is raw and his stomach is twisting like an angry snake ready to strike.</p><p>It does not strike but a mouthful of vomit escapes him instead. Faintly, he becomes aware of the cold porcelain under his hands and the other set of hands on his sides keeping him steady as he's hunched over a toilet, puking his guts out. They dig into his side just so, painfully familiar and Sonic cannot help but let out a choked hysteric laughter that just causes him to vomit some more.</p><p>Of course, Shadow would come home a week earlier than he was supposed when he finally decides to end his misery.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Sighing, Rouge switches on the TV, planning to pass some time that way. As she waits for the screen to light up, her teal eyes slip towards to the other side of the couch where the blue and peach form of Sonic is lying motionlessly, wrapped in a blanket and the embrace of a dreamless sleep.</p><p>She's been shocked when Shadow called and told her Sonic has tried to kill himself. Sure, the first attempt could really have been an accident, but swallowing all those pills? No, that was on Sonic. There's a significant difference between two and twenty.</p><p>She's never seen anyone look as wrecked as Shadow when he dropped by her club the same night after leaving Sonic in a hospital to be looked over by doctors. The agent has been so shaken, he even let her hold him for who knew how many minutes, and actually for once <em>talked</em> about what was going on in his head at the moment. Rouge did not know what to even say at the time as her thoughts very much mirrored Shadow's—<em>Sonic is fighter. He doesn't give up. But yet he did</em>—and so she very much was just an emotional support at the moment. She told Shadow to just call her if he even just needed a break from it all in the following days and he promised to do so.</p><p>And he's kept to his promise as her presence here shows; Shadow has asked her to watch over Sonic while he runs some errands and she's agreed without hesitation. Shadow has not specified when he'll be back but promised it won't be later than the following morning.</p><p>So, she waits and passes the time by watching the TV.</p><p>A journalist appears on the screen, a black cat with a microphone reporting from what appears to be the front of a hospital. A squirrel in blue scrubs stands beside her.</p><p><em>"Do you know what exactly has been stolen?" </em>the black cat stars.</p><p><em>"Well, we're still going through the inventory, but of the things we know are missing for certain is a few bottles of pentobarbital, IV bags, catheters and—" </em>the nurse listed off several more items before gesturing towards the journalist to continue her questions.</p><p>The journalist then expectedly goes onto ask the nurse whether they have some suspect yet or if she believes it might have been someone from the staff and other questions along those lines. Rouge is not really listening to the interview too closely as it's all just speculations.</p><p>"Who the hell steals from a hospital?" she wonders aloud. Like, she would understand if it were some junkies looking for drugs but who the heck stole IV bags and stuff? And wasn't pentobarbital some kind of sedative or something?</p><p>Pondering the conundrum keeps her busy for some time but eventually she just lets herself be distracted by the comedy movie that comes after the news segment.</p><p>Shadow arrives around midnight and thanks her for her help. He bids her farewell and Rouge walks out of the door, not knowing that when she'll drop by tomorrow, she'll find the house empty and a single letter as an explanation.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Resurrection</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><strong>AN:</strong> Alright, you've earned it with your overwhelming positive response! Here, have the second chapter three days earlier.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There's something profoundly wrong about Sonic's surroundings when he wakes up.</p>
<p>The hero cannot really immediately say <em>what</em> it is as all his senses seem oddly<em> distant </em>at the moment. His body also does not seem to be really listening to his commands, feeling just foreign and, and...<em>weak</em>.</p>
<p>What happened?</p>
<p>Sonic tries to open his eyes but he manages only a sliver before he closes them again, feeling a sting of some type of liquid making contact with the sensitive membrane. His mind reels at the unusual turn of events and he realizes the<em> wrongness</em> is the fact there's a faint weight bearing down on Sonic from all sides. Is he...<em>submerged</em> in something?</p>
<p>His breathing quickens but just so, just enough for his incoming panic attack to be halted by the realization that there's something pressed against his face, his nose and mouth covered by some rigid material. A...mask, perhaps? An oxygen mask? It would make sense if he really is submerged in a liquid. <em>What </em>the liquid is, he's not sure. However, it certainly is not water; it feels more viscous, sorta like honey. It feels foreign on his skin and clashes strongly with the warmth coming from the smooth surface he seems to be lying on.</p>
<p>Is he in some sort of a <em>tank</em>?</p>
<p>Confused and curious, Sonic tries again to open his eyes, this time not letting himself be deterred by the sting in his eyes. His vision is fuzzy but he can still make out that the liquid is...green? The lighting in the room around him is dim but the liquid certainly has a greenish tint to it.</p>
<p>Where exactly is he?</p>
<p>Closing his eyes again, he tries to think of what his next course of action should be. Figuring he's probably gonna see more if he sits up, he takes a deep breath and starts working on it. It's a slow process; his body feels impossibly <em>heavy</em> and the liquid around him resists being moved even slightly. However, straining himself seems the right course of action as Sonic feels himself becoming more and more aware of his body, more sensations coming to him. He does his best to categorize them.</p>
<p>There's a stinging in his right arm when he tries to move it and Sonic has spent enough time in various hospitals to recognize an IV catheter stuck in his body. The hand of his left arm seems to have something clamped on the fingers and there's something pulling at his chest fur in several places. His right leg burns and stings randomly, like if someone's giving him electrical shocks in it. But that's only phantom pain again, obviously, because the discomfort is localized to what his internal body map categorizes as a knee and all its below parts.</p>
<p>Eventually, Sonic manages to pull his arms closer to himself to then use them to slowly push himself up. His muscles ache with the effort, but eventually Sonic feels himself breaking the tension on the surface, his head getting above the liquid and let him tell you, it's<em> cold </em>here. However, Sonic doesn't give into the instinctual want to escape the cold but instead keeps going until he's sitting up properly at which point he pulls himself to be leaning against the edge of the tank—it is a <em>tank</em>, a rather small one, just big enough to fit him—with his hands grasping the edges to keep him from slipping back in, because, Chaos, somehow even the little has drained him entirely.</p>
<p>With a shaky hand, he removes the oxygen mask from his face, deaf to the sound of it as it impacts on the floor, instead focusing on rubbing the green sludge out of his eyes and off his face. Not that he can see much even with clear eyes—it's too dark in here for him to identify anything but his immediate surroundings. The only source of light is the lamp placed before a metal chair that stands by his tank for whatever reason.</p>
<p><em>Where am I?</em> Sonic repeats his earlier question, as he looks around, trying to identify something more around him. He blinks in surprise when he notices a machine that's clearly for monitoring his life-signals and then also a metal stand on which an IV-bag is hung. The later connects to the catheter in his arm and the former has a cable leaning to the clamp on his left hand and several electrodes on his chest. Green eyes look around in confusion as he tries to understand his situation. Considering the equipment, his brain jumps first to a hospital, but this obviously isn't a hospital. So, where the heck is he?</p>
<p>Did someone...<em>kidnap</em> him?</p>
<p>The set up is sketchy enough to support this theory, but on the other hand, he's not bound in any way as he'd expect to be if this were kidnapping. But he's hooked up to that mostly empty IV bag that could have contained some sedatives at some point.</p>
<p>Still, what the heck is the<em> green sludge</em> for?</p>
<p>The sludge still confuses Sonic but he figures he's not gonna get any answers until he talks to somebody.</p>
<p>He gulps a few times, in attempt to moisten his dry throat, but his voice still comes out raspy as he calls into the space, "Is somebody in here?"</p>
<p>His voice echoes for a while but no answer ever comes back to him.</p>
<p>All alone, then. Sonic supposes he'll have to help himself to some answers—starting by getting <em>out </em>of the tank.</p>
<p>He unhooks himself from the monitoring machine but decides to leave the catheter in for now, because that'd just cause him to bleed and he doesn't really have anything to compress the wound with. He looks around the tank, deciding what is the best route to take. Probably the metal chair.</p>
<p>He leans over the edge and pulls the chair closer to him, ears flattening at the screeching of metal grinding against metal. He startles a little when the chair catches on the lamp, knocking it over. Thankfully, it does not break, though it causes the little bit of light it gives to now point in the wrong direction, so it's even harder for Sonic to see now. But he'll still manage.</p>
<p>With a grunt, Sonic pulls the chair the last few inches, right against the tank, and then sets out on figuring out the best way to make the transfer. Hoping the glass is going to hold, he hauls himself up on the edge and blindly feels for the chair in the darkness. With one hand on the edge of the tank and one on the back of the chair, he swings his legs over. His left knee hits the chair seat but mystifyingly his right leg seems to catch on the tank's edge. With a yell, he slips off the chair and falls onto the floor, landing hard onto his right elbow and <em>knee</em>.</p>
<p>It takes Sonic a moment to realize so through the pain.</p>
<p>The entire world seems to tilt when he does.</p>
<p><em>It can't be. </em>Sonic's breathing quickens as he tries to rationalize what he's<em> feeling.</em> He reasons that his knee hurting is just another phantom pain produced by his brain, that the cold touch of metal floor against his right shin is just a projection from the left side, that the reason he fell was because of clumsiness and not because he has gotten used to moving around with only a stump and thus has stopped accounting for a longer limb...</p>
<p>He does not dare to look because a little part of him dares to hope. It doesn't care that it's not possible, that there's just no way. It just—it just <em>hopes </em>and Sonic just cannot bring himself to look because it all would shatter.</p>
<p>But the floor is <em>hard</em> against his knees and<em> cold</em> against his shins and he should <em>not</em> have <em>two</em>—</p>
<p>Limbs shaking not only from fatigue, he lets himself slump onto his left side. And still not daring to look, he places his now free shaky hand onto the side of his right thigh, and tortuously slowly moves it along the length of it. Sonic chokes on air as the tips of his fingers pass the line where he knows he should already be feeling the scar protruding through his fur. Spurred on by this, his hand keeps going. There's the hard ridges of a kneecap, the smooth line of a tibia and fibula wrapped up in a skin, fur and <em>flesh</em>—Sonic feels as he touches it with his fingertips and feels <em>his leg </em>being touched, he feels it, he feels, he feels, he <em>feels—</em></p>
<p>Tears are already rolling down his cheeks by the time he reaches his toes and counts all five of them.</p>
<p>Finally, he dares to look and when his gaze falls upon it, his leg is still there, thinner than he remembers it to be, but it<em> is</em>. His hands clutch onto the limb and he begins to cry openly. But no longer are these sobs but instead a disbelieving, choked laughter and to an outside eye, he probably looks like he's gone mad but he doesn't care because his leg is <em>here </em>and it's <em>his</em>—</p>
<p>It takes Sonic a long time to reign back in his emotions enough for his brain to be able to operate again. However, even as his emotions quieten down, his hands just refuse to stop touching his once lost leg, the hero needing to <em>feel </em>to ensure he's not dreaming. He even pinches himself to make sure. His surroundings do not change.</p>
<p>Which, of course, then poses a question—how exactly did he get his leg back? Has it all been just a bad dream? He has never experienced such a vivid dream; it has to be real. All of it. He lost his leg and now he's gotten his leg back. Somehow.</p>
<p>Green eyes look around into their dark surroundings and then at the glass tank, full of the green sludge. Something in his gut insists him that getting his leg back and it are linked somehow. Now only if he can find whoever is responsible for...all of this.</p>
<p>Taking a deep breath, Sonic uses the metal chair to pull himself up into a standing position, and clutches onto it for support even when upright; his body feels weak and when he looks down he can tell he's actually lost some muscle mass. He must have been here for quite some time already, then. Where exactly <em>here </em>is he has yet to find out, though.</p>
<p>However, before doing that, Sonic decides that the first thing he should do is find some blanket or at least something to wipe himself with. The place is <em>cold</em> and the sludge still coating his fur is not exactly helping with combating that.</p>
<p>He looks into the darkness around him, wondering which direction to pick to go in. In the end, he decides to follow the cable that is connected to the single lamp that is illuminating the space around him; the cable is most likely connected to a socket in a wall, which he can then follow to find a door out of this place.</p>
<p>He bends down to pick up the lamp so he can use it to light up the way for himself and with his other hand he grabs onto the metal hanger that holds the empty IV bag still connected to his arm—he still doesn't thinks it's a good idea to remove it—as it can serve him as a crutch. It has wheels on the bottom of it, so moving around with it should not be too difficult.</p>
<p>Walking in itself, however, proves to be even more of challenge than Sonic anticipated. His weakened muscles seem to struggle with holding him upright and he does not seem to have a good control of his right leg; moving it the way he wants to costs him a lot of effort and the movement feels just foreign to the muscles of it. It's almost like when one tries to write with the opposite hand than they normally do—the brain knows the movements perfectly but the limb struggles with replicating them because it's not used to making them.</p>
<p>But despite it all, Sonic eventually manages to reach the end of the cable. To his surprise, he finds a mattress there. It's been laid down onto the floor, covered by a simple white sheet, with a pillow. There's a haphazardly thrown blanket over it and a white towel lying at the bottom part of. But that's all there is to the place.</p>
<p>Sonic glances around a few times, thinking what he should do. He's not sure who the mattress is for, but it seems to have been used recently by the disorder of the things. Still, Sonic cannot resist letting himself drop onto it, giving some relief to his exhausted muscles. He grabs for the towel and it does not seem dirty. Figuring he can always apologize for dirtying it later, he uses it to clean himself off the sludge as best as he can. Once clean as he can be, he reaches for the blanket and wraps himself up in it to warm up. There's a distinct scent hanging to it, but Sonic's tired mind struggles to place it and the hero is not really trying to hard; he's conserving his energy for more exploration.</p>
<p>However, even though Sonic has planned to only rest for a few minutes, his eyes still end up closed and his mind slips back into a dreamless sleep.</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>When Sonic's consciousness returns to him, the first things he notices is a smell of something delicious permeating the area.</p>
<p>Blinking open his eyes, he notices the area is noticeably more brighter. However, instead of observing his surroundings, Sonic's eyes are immediately drawn to the tiny folding table that has appeared beside the mattress. There's a bowl with a spoon on one side and a piece of paper on the other.</p>
<p>Sonic pushes himself into a sit-up, muscles still protesting heavily despite his rest. He untangles himself but still keeps the blanket...s? wrapped around his shoulders. There's another, thicker one, he's sure wasn't there the day before. He also seems to have been moved to the center of the mattress; he's fallen asleep on the edge of it, he's certain. The catheter is also gone and Sonic cannot even see the punctuation wound in his arm when he looks. Not that he's trying too hard.</p>
<p>He pulls himself to sit cross-legged at the edge, pausing momentarily when it causes his right whole leg to brush against his left one. He run his hands over the limb, his mouth pulling into a smile with each inch of unmarred skin he touches. It was not a dream, after all. He has his leg <em>back</em>.</p>
<p>Remembering the piece of paper he's seen, his eyes glance back towards the bowl and then the paper. He takes the paper and unfolds it.</p>
<p>
  <em>Eat now. We'll talk later.</em>
</p>
<p>He blinks at the cryptic note. He turns the paper around a few times but there seems to be nothing more written on it. The writing looks familiar, but it's too short for Sonic to identify the person. However, he has an inkling that whoever they are, they're not going to show up until they decide so. Which probably won't be until he eats.</p>
<p>Sonic lays the paper down and focuses his attention on the bowl beside it. It seems to be a simple broth with a couple of vegetable pieces floating in it. It's a small portion by Sonic's standards but right now he doesn't think he'd stomach more. When he tries it, it's already lukewarm. To his famished self, it's tasty, nonetheless.</p>
<p>He finishes the soup sooner than he would have liked and before his mysterious, er, <em>caretaker</em> comes back. Therefore, Sonic takes to looking around his surroundings now when the place is better illuminated with the ceiling light on. The room seems to be a lab of sorts. In the center is his tank while two walls are lined with tables with various medical supplies, books, tools and mechanical parts laid over every single surface of it. His mattress is tucked in the farthest corner away from it all. There's a single door and no windows, making him believe the lab is either in a center of some complex or simply underground.</p>
<p>The thought makes Sonic uncomfortable but he doesn't let himself be too discomforted as so far his <em>caretaker</em> has not hurt him nor restrained him when he's gotten out out of the tank. Sure, there's the question how he's gotten in there in the first place but that gap in memory might as well be caused by the anesthesia or whatever the person has used to keep him under while they fixed his leg. However they have done that.</p>
<p>Glancing around, he wonders what to do while he waits. Normally, he'd try to go and look, but his entire body is aching and he doesn't want to end up missing his caretaker by going on a stroll around the complex.</p>
<p>Thus, Sonic just moves himself back to the center of the mattress and lies down, figuring he might as well catch some Z's in the meantime.</p>
<p>With the warm soup in his belly, he's out like a light not even a minute later.</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>Surprisingly, it's the sound of turning pages he wakes up to this time.</p>
<p>Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he rolls over to investigate the sound, green eyes widening in surprise at <em>who </em>he finds.</p>
<p>"Shadow?" He stares in confusion at the sight of his partner sitting there with a book and an air of absolute nonchalance. More so— "Chaos, are you alright?" Alarmed, Sonic pushes himself up into a sit-up, when he gazes past the relaxed demeanor and notices the exhausted slump of Shadow's body, the faint tremble of the hands holding the book, the overall thinner physique and the dark bags under his eyes. "You look like death."</p>
<p>"Well, good morning to you too, honey." Shadow's voice is practically dripping with sarcasm as the crimson eyes turn towards Sonic. They are hard and don't hold any of the usual warmth Shadow normally looks at him with. Almost like there's a wall between them. The distance seems even greater with how far the other is sitting. "How are you feeling? Anything hurts?" The eyes soften, but just so. Still no warmth. Not even in his voice.</p>
<p>"How am <em>I</em> feeling?" Sonic is taken aback at the question; he's no the one who looks like he's not slept or eaten in over two <em>months</em>. How long has he been asleep exactly— "Shadow, look at yourself. What on Mobius—"</p>
<p>The book snaps closed with such force Sonic jumps a little and Shadow's eyes seem to <em>blaze</em> now. "How. Are. <em>You</em>. Feeling?" Shadow very much growls out the question, with such vehemence Sonic honestly feels like there are gonna be dire consequences if he doesn't answer it.</p>
<p>His mouth snaps closed, a spark of uncertainty in his gut. He knows his partner enough to recognize Shadow being just a nudge from exploding in fury. He doesn't know what he's done to gain Shadow's ire, but he figures the best course of action will be to just answer the other's question.</p>
<p>"I'm a little sore," he answers truthfully, "and tired. But that's nothing a few hours of sleep won't fix." He quirks a small smile, hoping to lighten up the tense atmosphere. "...How are you?" he tries cautiously, hoping Shadow will not explode on him like before. Possibly offer a few explanations as well.</p>
<p>Shadow just huffs as he gets up, dropping his book where he's sat. "Oh, now you have the time to care, huh?" But it's clearly only a rhetorical question, really, as Shadow is already turning his back and walking over to the tank. He scoffs again. "But if you really want to know—I'm terrible, really; my partner has tried to kill himself like twice and I've spent the last couple of months fixing the issue to ensure he does not try again and then yesterday, I come only to not find him in his tank where he should be for at least two weeks more because I wasn't done yet!"</p>
<p>Shadow turns to him again, his expression stormy. Sonic cringes at the not-really hidden accusation in the other's speech, he open his mouth to apologize—but the words change when he realizes what Shadow has just admitted. "Wait, <em>you</em> gave me my leg back?"</p>
<p>Shadow scoffs. "No, I did not give you your leg <em>back</em>—I'd need to have it in the first place to do that. It's not your old leg. It's a new one." Shadow gestures towards the tank. "I mutated the DNA in your leg with chaos energy so the cells could endlessly divide and regrow your leg. I then sped up the process along and controlled it as your body worked to replace it."</p>
<p>Gaping, Sonic could only stare at the other. "You—what—you—Why didn't you tell me this was possible?!" Sonic's surprise gives away to anger and<em> betrayal</em>. "Why didn't you tell me I could have my leg back? Why did you let me go through all those painful operations instead of just telling me—"</p>
<p>
  <em>"YOU FORCED MY HAND!"</em>
</p>
<p>The entire place seems to shake with the power of Shadow's shout. Sonic immediately clasps his mouth shut, practically able to feel the air prickle with Shadow's fury. "You think this was easy?! You have no idea how hard it's to pull off something like gene editing with chaos energy! I'm<em> thousand</em> times more likely to cause cancer to develop than get the change I want—and it did numerous times—and you need to make this change to <em>billions</em> of cells to get a reasonable regeneration rate. I didn't know if it was even possible at all! I was a <em>million </em>times more likely to kill you than get you a new limb!"</p>
<p>Shadow's shoulders are heaving by the time his outburst ends. Sonic can only stare as he digests all the new information that has been laid out before him.</p>
<p>Shadow gives a profound sigh, his anger simmering into nothingness to be instead replaced by bone-weary tiredness. "...But after your second attempt at your life, I figured that I might as well take the odds—Either I'll save you or you end up dead as you wanted to. It seemed worth a try."</p>
<p>At the confession, something just breaks in Sonic's heart; he's never wanted Shadow to feel like that. Run into a corner where the only choices were to live in terror if this is the day Sonic will kill himself or taking matters in his own hands and then most likely kill him <em>himself.</em></p>
<p>"Shadow, I'm—"</p>
<p>"No." Shadow denies him, his emotions slipping back behind an unreadable mask and hard eyes. "I don't want to hear what's on your heart anymore. Keep your sentiments to yourself like you did before <em>this.</em> After all, you prefer it that way, don't you?"</p>
<p>Something twists painfully in Sonic's chest at the dismissal and the bitterness in the statement. "Shadow, please—"</p>
<p>But Shadow does not spare him another word. The agent simply disappears in a flash of a golden light, leaving him all alone with all the answers but none of the relief he'd hope they bring.</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>Sonic believes at least a half day has passed before Shadow appears again. The agent actually does not teleport but instead walks in through the door that Sonic still isn't sure where it leads to; he's felt guilty about worrying Shadow and so he has not left the room in case Shadow came back at some point.</p>
<p>"You're moving." It's not an order per se but it may as well be by the tone alone. "There's no point in staying in the lab anymore."</p>
<p>"Alright." Sonic doesn't protest and just gets up on his shaky legs. Shadow stares at him but does not offer help as he'd used to. It stings but Sonic has to accept it. "Lead the way."</p>
<p>Wordlessly, Shadow leads him into a long corridor that's all metal. The sight makes Sonic's brain tingle and he's sure he knows the place. He, however, doesn't realize where exactly he is until they make it deeper into a corridor and a giant window comes into view.</p>
<p>Sonic pauses to stare at the planet down below. Seeing him pause, Shadow halts too, sparing a brief glance to the planet too.</p>
<p>He explains, "I needed a place where I could work in peace and had the equipment and materials than I needed."</p>
<p>"...the green slime thingy?" Sonic guesses, finding that to be a strange thing that probably wouldn't be found anywhere else but the ARK.</p>
<p>"Nutritional fluid," Shadow clarifies. "Growing a limb takes quite a lot of material. It was easier to have your body get the building materials from its surroundings than trying to get them in you through IV bags and such. It was quite effective in my own healing anytime I was recovering from a serious injury." The red gaze slides up to his face and then sharply turns back to the corridor. "Enough idling. I'll show you where we'll be staying from now on and then we'll get to training."</p>
<p>Sonic is disappointed the little moment of peace is gone. However, it gives away to surprise when he realizes what exactly Shadow has just said.</p>
<p>"Training?"</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>The thing is that Sonic is <em>aware</em> that the earliest years of Shadow's life were spent on the ARK essentially being molded into a deadly soldier, but, he's never expected to come face to face with Shadow's military upbringing quite like <em>this</em>. On his own skin.</p>
<p>The training Shadow spoke about is essentially a grueling full body workout; Sonic's muscles have deteriorated while he was in his medically induced coma, so they need to be build back up. He also needs to learn how to properly control his new leg as even thought it works for the most part as his old one, it still does not feel as natural as it used to.</p>
<p>The training takes up majority of every day. The exercises change from day to day but their intensity never lets up, just gradually ramping up over time. Shadow makes him go easy on the new leg but any other body part is a free game and is exhausted until he can barely twitch the muscles in it, let alone move it. Shadow is there anytime he pushes too far, healing the injury immediately, so it does not pose problems during training but otherwise Shadow has no mercy; there's no words of encouragement, only commands and insults and <em>taunting</em> when he cannot fulfill them. The mockery hurts at first but Sonic gets over it quickly when he realizes it's just Shadow fueling his own pain and frustration.</p>
<p>For it is because of Sonic's selfish pursuits that Shadow is here in the first place; Shadow lost Maria and gave up on love, keeping all people at arm's length as getting close means getting hurt when anything happens to them—but then Sonic came along and crashed his way right through all of Shadow's protective walls and into the agent's heart. And now it was Sonic's <em>own</em> hand again that because of which Shadow has almost lost a beloved person again; it's reasonable he'd be hurting too.</p>
<p>Thus Sonic just brushes all the insults off and eventually starts throwing jabs back, just like back in the old days while Shadow was working for Eggman. He hasn't done so in a while but his tongue finds the rhythm easily. It feels freeing and even fun, despite the constant ache in his muscles.</p>
<p>And perhaps that what he's needed all along; not an ally but an enemy. Something physical, something tangible to undermine, to <em>oppose</em>. He's always done best in face of adversity, laughing in his enemies' faces, making them all turn red in anger until all they can do is just sputter nonsense.</p>
<p>Sonic never manages so with Shadow, the agent's face remaining hard, cold and unreadable. However, the agent's eyes are a different story. The crimson eyes seem less distant with each day and every time a jab falls from Sonic's lips, they seem to get just a little bit lighter. Whether it's just Shadow's anger being gnawed away by time or by his jabs, Sonic cannot tell but welcomes it, regardless.</p>
<p>But when Shadow's lips twitch into a faint trace of a smirk a week later after a particularly witty response to one of his taunts, it feels like a victory, nonetheless.</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>One thing Sonic notices over the course of the days is that Shadow barely sleeps. The coma has left Sonic with a peculiar sleeping schedule, so he tends to wake up at the oddest times of the day. However, every time he wakes up Shadow's awake and Sonic is certain he has not see the agent asleep <em>once</em> in over the two weeks he's already been awake. Which is disconcerting considering they spend essentially every minute of the day together; he should have seen Shadow at least napping or something. Their beds are literally six feet away from each other; there's no way he'd miss it.</p>
<p>Thus, it means Shadow's either not sleeping at all or <em>very </em>little which considering the dark circles under Shadow's eyes does not seem unlikely. From the way the red gaze seems to follow him everywhere, Sonic guesses it to be because Shadow does not want to let him out of his sight for longer than necessary; even his trips to the planet are kept to the absolute minimum, the agent only teleporting back down to get them food or anything else they might need at the moment. At any other point of the day, Shadow seems to follow him around like, well, a <em>shadow</em>.</p>
<p>Sonic knows he should probably be at least a little disconcerted by the behavior, worried about himself, but all he can think of is how to convince Shadow to finally rest for he wants the agent to be <em>well</em>.</p>
<p>Because, hell, even if their relationship is currently in a time-out, his love for Shadow is not. He cares for the other deeply, regardless of what he might have been put through in these past few weeks. For the truth is simple—Shadow is doing all of this because of <em>him</em>. The dark circles of missed sleep and the lost weight of uneaten meals is Shadow pushing himself to his limits to give Sonic back what he craves so much. For Shadow loves Sonic as much as Sonic loves him, if not even more; Shadow does not love often but when he does it's with the entirety of his being.</p>
<p>That's why Sonic is determined to get Shadow to sleep once the other returns from his grocery run. The agent is going to sleep even if Sonic has to hold him down. Shadow is not gonna ruin himself because of Sonic.</p>
<p>Sonic's brainstorming of how to exactly achieve so when even malnourished Shadow is still stronger than him, is however cut short as Shadow appears. Except it's not with groceries in his hands, but dust and blood adorning his fur instead.</p>
<p>Shadow does not look fully mentally present when Sonic meets his gaze.</p>
<p>"Shadow?!" Sonic shoots out of his seat, cringing when it pulls the muscles of his new leg which is still getting used to quick movements. However, he ignores the pain, focusing all his attention on the other. His hand come up to hold the other, stabilizing the dazed agent who reflexively grabs onto him for support. "What happened?" Sonic presses, guiding the other towards his bed. Shadow does not offer any resistance.</p>
<p>"Doctor...was causing...havoc...They needed a...backup," Shadow explains, stumbling over his words as Sonic nudges him onto the bed, the agent slumping onto it unceremoniously. Sonic immediately turns to get a first aid kit to look over the injuries but a striped hand curls a hand around his wrist before he can even make two steps away from the bed.</p>
<p>"Don't," Shadow mumbles. The hold on Sonic's wrist is surprisingly tight despite Shadow's overall state.</p>
<p>"Shadow, it's alright." He tries to gently pry the other's hold open, but Shadow refuses to budge. "I'll be right back—"</p>
<p>"No." Shadow pulls <em>suddenly</em>, throwing Sonic off balance. Sonic barely manages to catch himself on a forearm on the mattress to avoid falling onto Shadow and possibly making the injuries worse. "I gotta keep an eye on you," the agent continues in whisper that sounds like it's not really meant for Sonic's ears. "Can't give you another...<em>chance</em>."</p>
<p>"Shadow—" Sonic wants to protest, argue that he's<em> fine </em>and Shadow doesn't need to watch him 24/7 but stops when he realizes what exactly the other means by a <em>chance</em>. His ears press against his head guiltily. The first time was honestly an accident—but Shadow literally caught him <em>red</em>-handed, so what else they was the agent supposed to think?—but the second was all him. His mind was in such a dark place and he just wanted to be...<em>free</em>. Of everything. And Shadow has no way of seeing what his head-space looks like now, so it's reasonable for Shadow to assume he might try something foolish again. After all, depression doesn't go away day from day.</p>
<p>"...I promise I'll be right back," Sonic say and means it. There's no risk of<em> that</em> happening again. "Please, Shad, just trust me."</p>
<p>Shadow blinks at him, his mouth turning into a light frown. "...I trusted you <em>before</em>."</p>
<p>And, ouch, that hurts, but, yeah, Sonic <em>understands</em> where Shadow is coming from. "Then trust me <em>again</em>. I'll be back." His mouth quirks into a grin. "After all, I haven't had the chance to try the new leg in a race against you."</p>
<p>And <em>that</em>, that seems to be exactly the right thing to say as Shadow gives him a long look but eventually lets go of his wrist. Expectedly, the crimson eyes follow him as he leaves the room and even more so when he comes back.</p>
<p>Sonic sits down on the edge of the bed and sets off on cleaning out the various cuts some of which has already started to close themselves thanks to Shadow's enhanced healing capabilities. However, Sonic still does best to clean them out all.</p>
<p>As he works, Shadow seems to drift off for a few minutes but when he wakes up again, his eyes are brighter and more attentive again.</p>
<p>Sonic's cleaning out the last specks of dust off the black fur, when Shadow's voice sounds, "Why did you do it?"</p>
<p>"Do what?"</p>
<p>"Try to kill yourself."</p>
<p>Sonic's hand stills above. "I...just. I felt like nothing mattered anymore." His hand drops into his lap. " Like if I can't run anymore, what else there is to life? I mean, I had all of you, loving and caring for me, but I just...I felt like a burden. Instead of enjoying life, you all were busy helping me out with everything and I just felt it would be better for everybody if I was...gone."</p>
<p>"It was our choice to care for you. If we didn't want to, we wouldn't have," Shadow argues. "And I know you absolutely adore running, but there's other things you like. Why couldn't you turned your energy elsewhere like...singing? You enjoy that too."</p>
<p>"Well, I do enjoy <em>that.</em>" Sonic chuckles a little, remembering how Shadow tried not so subtly to get him to do that with the guitar all these weeks back. "But it's not really my passion like running is. That one just holds a very special part in my heart." <em>Just like you</em>, his brain adds, but Sonic knows sentiments like that are off the limits between them for the time being. Green eyes turn to meet red, and, after a brief contemplation, Sonic decides to the hell with it; he leans in and presses a kiss to Shadow's cheeks. The agent looks surprised by the action. "Thank you for giving it back to me." He offers the other a wide smile and Shadow's expression softens.</p>
<p>"I'd give you anything." The confessions is soft, nothing but a whisper but Sonic still hears it.</p>
<p>"I know." Sonic's smile softens. "I'm lucky I have you." The luckiest person alive, really. "I love you." His confession is just as soft as Shadow's, but it still make Shadow's lips twitch into a smile. Sonic leans over the other, a touch of nervousness to his smile. "Truce?" he proposes.</p>
<p>"...Yes," Shadow agrees and pulls him into their first kiss in who knows how many months.</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>Things get more light-hearted, after that. The distance between them disappears and they mostly go to how things were before. Shadow still makes him train, but the jabs are more-light hearted now. On the other hand, Sonic begins to nag Shadow about eating and sleeping more—which thankfully the agent does—and it doesn't take long for them to recover to before the Behemont state. Sonic is still able to use only a fraction of his speed as his new leg is still catching up to the rest of his body, but he's making a steady progress. They even begin to spar lightly and Sonic is pleased to find he's still got it for the most part.</p>
<p>Shadow also talks about what everybody has been up to while he's slept. It appears that Knuckles, Tails and Amy continue in his place with fighting Dr. Eggman. Others do as they did before the Behemoth. And, Rouge, well, Rouge is apparently is <em>this</em> close to using violence to get the truth out of Shadow where the hell the two of them have been all this time. Apparently, Shadow has only told her he was taking him somewhere to get better, and she made the wrong move of passing the info along, so everybody is on her back for updates as she's really the only one Shadow is communicating with; he's left her a contact to call him when Dr. Eggman is posing too much of a trouble to the heroes or in the case anything serious happens.</p>
<p>"Maybe we could return to the surface and meet everybody?" Sonic suggests. "I mean we don't have to stay here anymore, do we?"</p>
<p>Shadow frowns. "I'd agree if I didn't know you'll run off the moment you see a green pasture and possibly ruin the progress on your leg."</p>
<p>"I'm not that impulsive," Sonic argues, thought he himself isn't really sure whether he'd be able to resist the temptation. Wind in his quills, soft dirt under his feet, sun's warmth on his skin— "...Alright, I see your point. Still, don't take it wrong—I love spending time with you—but I'd really like to see others. We can visit just for an hour or two."</p>
<p>"...Fine. But you better not run off."</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>Sonic sighs happily as he rolls in the flower field, enjoying the soft breeze tousling his fur, the smell of flowers in the air, even the pollen tickling his nose. Chaos, he didn't realize how much he missed nature...</p>
<p>"Enjoying yourself?" Shadow sits down beside him, just observing their surroundings. Sonic rolls over to give the other a grin and a flower he's picked on the other side.</p>
<p>"Yup," he pops the 'p' as he slips the flower into the quills behind Shadow's ear. "It's nice to not have to breath stale air."</p>
<p>"True." Shadow hums in agreement. Silence reigns over them for a few heartbeats but their moment of tranquility is quickly cut short as Shadow's communicator goes off and Rouge's voice comes through.</p>
<p>
  <em>"Shadow, get to downtown as fast as you can! Doctor officially lost it. We need everybody here. Rush!"</em>
</p>
<p>"I'm on my way," Shadow affirms and gets up immediately. Sonic follows in suit but Shadow shoots him a look of the 'Where the heck do you think <em>you</em> are going?' variety.</p>
<p>"I'll keep to the sidelines," Sonic jumps to the option he knows will work on Shadow. "I promise I won't fight. I'll just help evacuate the people if necessary."</p>
<p>Shadow grounds his teeth for he knows it's the best deal he's gonna get with as stubborn partner as his is. "Alright. Don't get yourself in trouble."</p>
<p>"When I ever do?" Sonic quips with a grin, giving the other a quick peck on the lips before the agent chaos controls them over to the location.</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>They drop into existence quite far from the action but not far enough they could not see the site of destruction. Luckily, it seems that the civilians have been already been evacuated and all the people left are the heroes and the military.</p>
<p>Shadow shoots Sonic a look full of meaning and Sonic just gives a sharp nod that he'll behave. They begin to make their way closer with Sonic taking cover behind some rubble to watch the battle go on from a relatively safe space.</p>
<p>This time there's several robots instead of one and they all resemble an...octopus? There's a many small ones and a giant one. It's got a big glass dome from inside which Eggman is controlling all of the robots and to the bottom of the dome is attached a metal platform from which dozens upon dozens of mechanical tentacles seem to emerge. It doesn't take Sonic long to figure out what the problem is. It appears that the tentacles have all sort of attacks—one seems to be electrified, one is letting out steam, another has spikes—and it appears that all the tentacles are capable of all these types of attacks as when Sonic focuses on a single tentacle it gradually cycles through all of those modes. There does not seem to be a pattern to the changes, which explains why the heroes have such a trouble taking it down.</p>
<p>Honestly, <em>one</em> of those things would be enough to cause trouble and there appears about to be eight of them, including the big one. It makes sense Rouge has called Shadow as unlike the rest of them his chaos attacks do not require of him to<em> touch</em> the robot to cause damage. He's also way faster than any of them so unlike them, so he actually has a chance to make his way towards the most vulnerable part of the robots—the dome.</p>
<p>Dr. Eggman knows so and so the tentacles always come up to protect it any time there's an attack that could potentially land. The robots are scattered all around and they're clearly doing what they can to keep the heroes and soldiers scattered across the battlefield so they cannot help each other out. Too successfully. Sonic has fought often enough with his friends to recognize the signs of exhaustion in their movements. And the army isn't doing much better.</p>
<p>However, none of them stop their assault on the robots; Knuckles is throwing some bigger boulders of debris onto the 'mother' robot directly, while the soldiers scattered around are trying to keep the smaller robots from converging on him, with which Amy is helping them, sending the smaller bots flying several hundred yards with her hammer when she lands a lucky shot. In the distance, Shadow is circling the perimeter, either coming up with a plan or looking for an opening.</p>
<p>It takes Sonic a moment to find Rouge and Tails on a nearby rooftop—wait, is that a freaking <em>rocket launcher</em> in Rouge's hands—</p>
<p>Rogue shoots and the rocket is definitely heading for the dome of the mother robot before one of the tentacles literally <em>smacks </em>it out of the way and into a nearby building that explodes in a shower of debris that has the heroes running for cover. Dr. Eggman laughs as one tentacle sweeps the distracted heroes' feet from under them and the smaller robots immediately rush to pin the fallen heroes and soldiers to the ground, tasing them with the electrified tentacles if they attempt to get back up. Sonic's ears flatten as he hears Amy scream and sees Knuckles convulsing on ground.</p>
<p>Sonic's fingers dig into corner of the building he's hiding behind, his stomach rolling uncomfortably as he knows he cannot help them; he cannot build up a high enough speed to be able to avoid the tentacles nor has enough control of his new leg to be able to maneuver effectively enough to be of help. And here, he doesn't even have any way to set up a trap for Dr. Eggman. Sonic grits his teeth and hopes Shadow will figure something out.</p>
<p>And soon, he can see the familiar dark form of his partner run into view. Shadow is circling the robot and several chaos spears fly out of his hand, aiming for the left side of the dome. The tentacles immediately move to block the attack and Shadow uses the opportunity to teleport <em>under</em> the robot. Another set of tentacles moves to stop him from damaging the main platform but by the time they reach under Shadow's emerging from the other side and running <em>up </em>the <em>dome</em>. Dr. Eggman curses, but Shadow does not actually attack the dome but instead rolls down it and uses a spindash to sever the tentacles that are still reaching under the platform at the very joint where they connect to it. He manages to take out about a fourth of them.</p>
<p>To add salt to the injury, Shadow immediately uses a chaos blast, damaging several more tentacles and causing a big crack to form in the dome. By the time the smoke clears, Shadow has already teleported elsewhere.</p>
<p>Dr. Eggman rages inside his dome and smashes several buttons on his consoles. Four of the smaller robots immediately run to his aid and form another line of defense. Shadow however does not let himself be deterred; he pops in and out of existence all over the place, from time to time landing hits to the smaller robots, once or twice even the mother robot. But even with the aid of Chaos Control, it's just not possible for Shadow to avoid the dozens of tentacles and one inevitably lands a hit and sends him flying.</p>
<p>Shadow lands hard on a pile of debris left from the destroyed building and the Chaos Emerald slips out of its hiding place from Shadow's head-quills. Shadow is clearly dazed but before he can manage to pull himself together, the robot octopuses are upon him and shocking him into submission. Shadow's limbs twitch uselessly as one of the robot pulls him towards the mother robot, where Dr. Eggman is already laughing maniacally.</p>
<p>Sonic stares in horror at the fallen heroes, but a glint of color catches his eye. He turns his gaze and sees Rouge and Tails hover nearby, both wearing conflicted expressions, clearly at loss what to do. Shadow has almost managed to get into the glass dome; one good hit and it'll crumble. But unless they manage to breach it, there's no way to stop Eggman. They realize so.</p>
<p>Sonic's eye snap towards the forgotten emerald.</p>
<p>He has an idea.</p>
<p>"Rouge!" he shouts from his hiding place, hoping the bat's hearing is sensitive enough to pick his voice up even from this distance. And it clearly is as Rouge's head whips around towards where he's hiding and Rouge visibly forgets to even flap her wings to stay airborne in her shock at seeing him. However, questions can come later. "Distract him! I'll get the Emerald," Sonic shouts, pointing first to Eggman then the pile of rubble. Rouge's gaze snaps to both places and she seems to ponder what is his plan for a moment, but eventually she gives a nod and whispers something to Tails.</p>
<p>Then clearly wanting to use a moment of surprise, Rouge herself attacks <em>head on</em>, startling Dr. Eggman from his victorious moment. The tentacles whip out to stop her but with delay that works in Rouge's favor as she uses the moment to dive out of their expected path. While she lures Dr. Eggman to follow her, forcing him to turn his back to Sonic, Tails works to distract the smaller robots. This is his chance.</p>
<p>In a single instant, Sonic feels himself switch from observing to<em> fighting</em>; his limbs feel electrified, his heart is hammering in his chest and there's blood pumping in his ears. His eyes lock on his prize and his feet kick up a cloud of dust as he lunges into a sprint. He pushes his new leg until it starts to feel like the muscles and sinews are going to snap from the pull and he maintains the speed; the battlefield is a vast and Sonic needs to cross it before Egghead has the chance to stop him.</p>
<p>Luckily, Rouge is great at being a decoy, so he manages to reach and grab the Emerald without a problem. He sweeps it as he goes, making a sharp U-turn, using his left feet to pivot as it's the one more stable one. It's not as graceful as it used to be with his right, but he finds his footing quickly and uses the speed he's built up to scale up the nearest skyscraper of which he then pushes off with both feet, somersaulting in the air to reach the mother robot to deliver a round-house kick to the cracked portion of the dome and finally shatter it open.</p>
<p>Airborne like this, he knows he must already be in the doctor's peripheral view and it is confirmed when the doctor whips around in clear shock. However, Sonic does not give the doctor chance to react and yells the familiar words of "Chaos Control!" to slow down the time.</p>
<p>The tentacles are coiling to strike him by the time essentially halts to stop, but Sonic knows it'll be all over before they have the chance to touch him. He finishes his twist in the air to get in the position and it's purely his muscle memory that makes him stick out his right leg to deliver the blow; but he realizes his mistake too late and so he just hopes for the best.</p>
<p>The shock of the impact reverberates through his leg as the glass under his sole gives away, a spiderweb pattern of cracks forming across the dome until it all crumbles inwards in nothing but a rain of shards.</p>
<p>The good thing about slowing down time is that even if he's not able to move as fast as he'd before his accident, he can <em>still</em> deliver blows at the same speeds as he'd do if at full power. On the flip side, he can already say the force of it has torn and likely also broke something in his leg before he even touches the ground.</p>
<p>The time returns to normal just as he falls inside the cockpit beside panicked Eggman. Sonic's brain barely registers the pain from the fall though; he's too busy gritting his teeth and clutching his leg, aware of nothing but the absolute <em>agony</em> in his thigh. He doesn't think he can get up even if he wanted to, all his willpower going to stop himself from crying out.</p>
<p>Luckily, he doesn't have to as Rouge immediately dives into the now open dome. Rouge knocks the doctor to the ground and puts a heeled foot on the doctor's neck to ensure he'll stay there while she shuts off the power to all the robots. They drop lifelessly just a moment later and the heroes along with the soldier slowly stand up on to their shaky legs.</p>
<p>Shadow manages to climb onto the platform first of them all. His entire body is still trembling in aftershock and he drops to his knees beside Sonic with a painful thud, but there's fire in his eyes still.</p>
<p>"You idiot. I told you to keep out of it," the agent scolds him the moment Shadow catches his breath. The gloved hands, however, immediately begin to shine and hover over where Sonic is clutching on his leg. "Your only luck is you saved the situation..." Shadow concedes and Sonic feels the chaos energy seeping into his leg—not healing yet, just blocking the nerves in it from feeling pain for the time being.</p>
<p>"You're welcome," Sonic throws back with a somehow pained smirk once the agony is muted to the point he's confident he won't start hollering in pain if he dares to relax his jaw. "But really you should have see it coming my help would be needed. You can't expect Knucklehead to save the day—"</p>
<p>"Sonic, how in the name of Chaos—" the aforementioned Knucklehead, better known as Knuckles, pauses as he along with the others finally makes it up the platform and takes a <em>proper</em> look. "Your Leg! It's back!" Their expression are enough for Sonic to tell Knuckles is voicing out the thoughts of all people present. "How—Just—<em>How?!</em>"</p>
<p>Sonic just chuckles through his pained, labored breaths and lets himself droop onto his back.</p>
<p>Relaxing, at last.</p>
<p>"It's a really long story."</p>
<p>
  <em>FIN.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
  <ul>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26328859">Scars</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenwing57/pseuds/goldenwing57">goldenwing57</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
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